Wow Susan! What a wonderful series of prays for our county! Now, back in my teen years I was lost and confused because I thought the apostles were all perfect and without sin. I used to look at the statues in the Catholic church and think, "I could never match the perfection of these giants so why even try?" Little did I know the story behind Paul when he was Saul. The love and forgiveness that Christ showed all of us even extended to the most revered apostle that ever lived! So today I think, "If Christ forgave and loved Paul when he was Saul how much could Christ love and forgive me for my sins?" The truth be known, the love of our Lord Jesus is way beyond our comprehension because if we knew Saul today I doubt if there is a person alive that would completely forgive him and forget his transgressions. Billy Graham and others like him taught the truth right from the Bible to reveal to all of us that our Lord is truly amazing! Thank you Susan! Thank you Jesus and God Bless America!

PS: As for Ron, "Lord please forgive him for he knows not what he is saying." Amen!

I'm happy you stopped by, Ronald, and wrote from the heart.

But ...
The grass withers and the flowers fall,
but the word of our God endures forever"
Isaiah 40:8

In the land of "freedom of religion." Billy Graham's Protestant Christian ministry seems to have a lock on the government. Billy has befriended and counseled almost every president, regardless of their behavior, never calling some of their bad behavior "immoral." Most government functions, including the inauguration, begin with a Protestant Christian prayer, many times delivered by Dr. Billy Graham, himself.

I have found that as people age, particularly in my own family, their religious beliefs become as hardened as their arteries. I believe it is a defense mechanism built into the brain as certain reasoning powers are lost and the brain focuses on memories and reinforced dogma for survival. My grandmother who had Alzheimer's displayed almost ridiculous religious fervor before she no longer spoke and just stared, ate and slept until her eventual death.

Graham's declaration of immorality is nothing new. That claim goes back as far as Socrates. I do recall a phone call I had with my "other half" (we were nearly the same age and I stayed in his house in Karachi for only four days, but we had a kinship in January 1978, that was really hard to explain since we lived a globe apart). When Talha called me from his brother-in-law's here in the states on a visit about 15 years later, we picked up the conversation like we had seen each other the day before. Sometime while we were talking, Talha declared that he "feared for the country's morality" and it and it seemed soacteristic of him. We all know what has happened to Pakistan since, now under the control of extreme dogmatic fundamentalists. Back then, secular affairs outstripped religious activities. We went to see a religious parade as though it were entertainment rather than a required activity. The Sunnis and Shia were clashing than as they are now. Back then, it was rather comic to watch.

That is the view I get when I hear about Christians talking about morality. What they really want is to control the country like they always have, but much worse, with the iron hand of religious dogma.

Ron